Vanguard

Hello!

this weekend, the ‘Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’ aka – 2000AD, celebrated its 40th anniversary. It was first published waaaay back in 1977.

Although I’m not a die-hard fan, I’ve always read it. 2000AD had and has ‘edge’. The characters it has introduced have stood the test of time. Dredd, Nemesis, Rogue Trooper… The list goes on. This comic shaped my writing and creations ever since it came into my life.

The comic’s publishers, Rebellion, organised a day event in the Novotel hotel in Hammersmith. As part of The Awesome Comic podcast, Vince, Tony and myself were tasked with covering the event. As you read this, the show should have gone live. Have a listen to it by clicking this link.

It was such a fantastic event. Fans were able to to speak directly to their favourite creators, purchase original artwork from the comic and quiz them on the various progs.

I spent a large part of the day looking at artwork artists had brought along, like these spreads from Prog. 2000 by art-droid Chris Weston. The dude is a beast. The photo i’ve taken does not do it justice. Each page looks ike was printed as opposed to done by hand. Even though a lot of my comic is done digitally, I doff my cap to the skill and craftsmanship involved in making these pages. Amazing stuff.

During the day, there were a number of talks and demonstrations, from a ‘live drawing’ on an overhead screen to a screening of a brand new Strontium Dog fan-film, ‘Search and Destroy‘.

By far the best talk of the day was the one with Pat Mills. Hosted by my other host from the ACP, the mighty Tony Esmonds, it was informative and fun. I could listen to Pat Mills talk comics all damn day.

I managed to speak to Pat, his wife Lisa and their friends briefly about VANGUARD during the evening. I pitched the comic better than I ever had done so before and it went to down pretty well. As the group said our goodbyes, Pat shook my hand and said: ‘Good luck with Vanguard’. Obviously, I then floated home with a massive grin on my face.

Was glad to meet fans of the AC podcast including Sarah (who made the ace Wolfshead figure), Gary from Comics Anonymous, Helper-Droid Gareth (Intercorstal) and loads of other great people.

Along with a slew of mind blowing artistic talent, there was also a number of different props for one to get your grubby mitts on. Here’s a pic of me standing next to a Lawmaster looking awkward.

and fellow ACP host, Vince Hunt brandishing a huge cannon.

…and me as a Judge.

People commented how good I looked as a dressed as a fascist lawman. I take some comfort from that.

Sadly, there was no mention of Stallone’s definitive take on the character.

But hey, you can’t have everything, right?

Dan

Hello again!

There was a recent wave of artist friends of mine purchasing Figma figures in an effort to improve their drawing skills on poses, etc. I saw the bandwagon rolling by and leapt aboard with reckless abandon. I popped onto Ebay and bought two figures. A male and a female.

I got both at a decent price and the shipping from China was quoted at two months, but to my surprise, it took just over two weeks. Sadly, the toe section of the ladies left foot has gone missing, but suspecting these figures aren’t ‘legit’, I let that slide. To be honest, it doesn’t really affect and poses I’d be making. The figures are relatively robust, but I’d advise against too much rough housing.

I’d literally taken a commission the day before the figures turned up, so thought it’s be a good opportunity to put them through their paces. I set the figure up in a variety of poses and put it to the person who commissioned the picture to decide on the one to use. They chose the following:

Once that was decided, I drew from the photo as reference. The following is an image with the red lines dropped to black and darkened.

and then went onto inks.

Scanned and 3D element dropped in.

Final version.

Summing up:

Overall, I found drawing using the model handy. While I won’t be using it for absolutely every panel/page/pin-up I do, it certainly has it’s benefits. One didn’t foresee is the being able to use it for light/shadow reference. The muscular sculpt on the model really pays off here. It’s definitely something I will use in future.

My only complaint/warning is that if one were to use this all of the time, there’s a risk that poses/actions will start to look too static and not fluid.

If you’re looking to invest in an artistic tool, you can’t go too wrong with these. The full scale/’proper’ figures will set you back a fair old sum though, so you’ll have to consider if it’s worth investing in.

Any questions on how I got on with this, please ask below and I’ll endeavour to answer 🙂

Dan